Redistricting plan expected to be on fall ballot

A plan to change Ohio's hyperpartisan system of drawing legislative and congressional districts appears likely to make the November ballot and already is drawing sharp criticism from Republicans.

A plan to change Ohio’s hyperpartisan system of drawing legislative and congressional districts appears likely to make the November ballot and already is drawing sharp criticism from Republicans.

Voters First, a coalition including labor unions, the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, Democrats, the Libertarian Party and others, said that today it will turn in more than 430,000 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters needed to make the ballot. The group will continue to gather signatures in case too many of the initial batch are ruled invalid.

The effort has been boosted by a growing coalition, including We Are Ohio, the group of labor unions and Democrats that last year crushed the collective-bargaining law known as Senate Bill 5.

“Elected officials have been rigging the system by drawing lines to benefit themselves rather than thinking about us, the voters,” said Catherine Turcer, chairwoman of Voters First. “They have been manipulating district lines, which is the manipulation of your vote.”

Under the current system, the ruling party gerrymanders district lines to benefit incumbents and attempt to ensure its majority lasts throughout the decade.

The Voters First proposal would create a new Ohio Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission, consisting of four Democrats, four Republicans and four independents chosen through a multistep process involving state judges. Elected officials, lobbyists and major political donors would be barred from selection.

The plan purports to remove politics from the process, but veteran Rep. Lou Blessing, a Cincinnati Republican and No. 2 House leader, said in a recent letter that the “entire proposal is a sham and charade.” He sharply criticized the way commission members would be picked, arguing there would be no true independents.

“You can bet the two political parties will have so-called independents apply who are totally sympathetic to one party or the other, and they will let their judges know who these people are,” Blessing wrote. “And the media will never know because these judges can act in secrecy.”

By the luck of the draw, Blessing said, one political party will end up with at least a 7-5 majority.

Daniel Tokaji, an Ohio State University elections-law professor who worked with Voters First, said the ultimate goal is to get districts that are not biased in favor of any party or politician. He called Blessing’s response “sadly predictable from partisan politicians who are determined to hold onto their own power.”

Tokaji said judges are to select commission members based on their capacity for impartiality. “ If anyone is well-suited to evaluate (that) ... it is a judge.”

Eight Ohio appeals court judges selected by the state chief justice would initially select 42 applicants, 14 each of Democrats, Republicans and independents. From that list, the House speaker and minority leader would pare the list to no less than 24 applicants, and of that pool, nine members — three each of Democrats, Republicans and independents — would be chosen at random. Those nine then choose the final three members.

Letting House leaders reduce the list would “ensure we don’t have partisans on the panel pretending to be impartial,” Tokaji said.

New lines are not scheduled to be redrawn again until 2021. But if voters approve the Voters First plan, the redistricting process would begin immediately, with new maps in place for the 2014 election, guided by new criteria that aim for more compact, politically competitive districts.

Ann Henkener, who spearheaded the signature drive for the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said supporters are girding for a massive campaign by GOP interests to defeat it and preserve current districts.

“They have an unnatural advantage,” she said. “Why would they want to give that up for something that’s merely fair?”

Henkener said unions, including the Ohio AFL-CIO and Ohio Education Association, were “a huge help” in gathering signatures. She acknowledged that her coalition will have to raise money for the campaign against what is expected to be a much-better-financed opposition.

Ohio GOP Chairman Robert T. Bennett said the proposed 12-member commission is flawed and lacks accountability to voters.

“They’re not going to be answering to anybody, and you can’t fire them,” Bennett said. “I’ve read this thing in detail. It’s really the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.”

jsiegel@dispatch.com

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